Every office has that one employee ... you know ... the one that sucks. Well.. meet Ruby. Ruby was formerly a house slave who spent the last several years in Ed's basement without much to do. When we opened the office in Waterbury, though, it became apparent that we would need somebody to sweep clean the floors every night and we decided it was high time to put Ruby back to work. Ruby enjoys dirt, dust, mud and occasional muck. Her favorite time of year in Vermont is mud season when she gets to show off her appetite the most. Although she appears a happy round camper she is in fact a gritty character. Recently she's been complaining of old age and demanding more nights off. Although we're not quite ready to agree to an early retirement, we have been giving her a more flexible schedule. Who knew that robot vacuums could be so demanding!? Read More >>

One of the cornerstones to success with any online endeavor is to have a steady output of content. The phrase "Content is King" has time and time again shown itself to be true. In order to rank well in search results for your particular subject matter we always counsel businesses and bloggers to write more content. Sometimes, however, the time it takes to write new content can become a weight that is hard to bear. It's hard to see what more can be written about a topic when so many others have already seemingly covered everything and it's not a simple task to come up with something fresh and new if you're already up to your neck in other responsibilities. Luckily, though, there are a few tricks you can employ. I'm going to share one with you now. I call it Content Curating on a Time Diet. Much like the job of a museum curator, content curators are folks who are looking for interesting content online and pulling it together into their own space - adding their own flavor or opinion and sharing it with their readers. Using trendy news related to your industry, it is possible to quickly come up with new [....] Read More >>

It's time again for another round of kudos for the cool kids on the block. What time is it? This week we're sending out a shout-out to Richard Birkett  for the wild clocks he builds. These treasures are all one-of-a-kind and made from industrial debris. He takes bits and pieces of broken machines from typewriters to cameras to VCRs and gives them new life as whimsically designed clocks. Keeping stuff out of landfills and giving us groovy time keepers in the process earns him Props. Check out his collection at http://fantasyclocks.com/ and find him on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fantasy-Clocks/239654963641?ref=ts San Francisco ... One Toothpick at a Time You gotta hand it (Props, that is) to anyone with the persistence to develop something requiring not thousands, not tens of thousands but over one hundred thousand parts and to turn those parts into something so much greater. Scott Weaver  is just such a person. He's created a sculpture of the city of San Francisco using toothpicks - over 100,000 of them. It's taken him over 35 years to make and it includes multiple ball runs that allow you to go on "tours" of different parts of the city.  Giant Paper Flowers Intricate, graceful and stunningly beautiful paper flowers fill the Gothic Abbey of Sanit-Riquier in [....] Read More >>

Over the years Google has morphed from a simple, yet powerful search engine into a conglomerate of online tools and resources.  These resources have in recent years become more likely to be served as part of the most relevant search results for a given query. This is especially true when results for a search query pertain to local businesses. For example, take a look at this screenshot of the results on Google for the query "restaurant": What's worth noting here is that the results that show above in pink (added by me) are the results above the fold - those that are visible without scrolling down the page.  Looking more carefully at those results we can see that seven of the top nine results that show up are for Google + Local pages.  Hovering over the listings turns the right-hand side into a sneak peek of the information Google + Local has for the restaurants in the list. So the question for a restaurant owner becomes "how do I ensure I am in the top list in order to get that exposure?"  The answer is fairly straightforward - a well-constructed, informative website, social engagement and ensuring your listings on other local listing services [....] Read More >>

Another Friday rolls around and another chance to send out some Props so let's get right to it! The most amazing Robot Dance This guy is simply astounding - check him out. His play on the theme of Wall-E is well done and beautiful. This is from Kyrgyzstan got talent - and evidently they do.   Oru the Origami Kayak Really? Seriously? An Origami Kayak!? Believe it. This is just awesome. Oru- the Origami Kayak from Anton Willis on Vimeo.   Props out to the crew at  Moosach Bikes. This Dutch brand of bike rolls out twelve bikes a year, each a refurbished vintage, road bike frame with new parts. They are made to be excellent and gorgeous and each with a story. The retro look and feel and the hot design certainly worth note. Read More >>

One of the most effective tools we have in our bag of tricks is the effective planning and execution of well-done Landing Pages. If you own a business and are looking to expand your reach, it is worthy of your time to consider a Landing Page campaign. What are Landing Pages? I'm glad you asked. Landing Pages are simply web pages on your site that are typically designed for a singular purpose - usually a sign-up (lead generation) or a sale. A typical business might have anywhere from a handful to hundreds of Landing Pages. They are closely tied to online advertising such as a Google AdWords campaign in order to be logical extension of the advertisement or link. Why Landing Pages? Landing Pages are designed to speak to the target audience directly. When combined with contextual search advertising they are able to reach people interested in your service or product at the exact moment they are looking.  Landing Pages provide businesses a valuable resource for gaining new contacts and customers. When done properly a Landing Page campaign can easily pay for itself by generating new business leads. How are Landing Page Campaigns Done? When we create a Landing Page Campaign we look at several important [....] Read More >>

It's Friday which means its time to spread some love. Meghan Vogel Just watch the video. Class act. 17-year-old Meghan Vogel is a junior attending West Liberty-Salem High School in Ohio was in a 3,200 meter run at the state track meet on Saturday June 2nd,2012. She saw Arlington High School sophomore Arden McMath nearly on the track in front of her nearing collapse. Instead of passing her, Vogel helped her to the finish line in front of a cheering crowd. The rules say doing this could get both runners disqualified, but officials declined to take action. Cork Truck I'm a sucker for things that remind me of the I Spy books. I can't imagine the number of hours spent with my kids looking over those pages. Some of the artwork done by Jan Elftmann simply reminds me of this. The  Blue T-Rex and Safety Pin Curtain are my personal favorites. http://www.corktruck.com/artwork.html         3D Printers and Makerbot If you are unfamiliar with 3D printing technology I am pretty certain that won't last for long.  The folks over at Makerbot are bringing the ability to create your own 3D plastic model prototypes, toys and more to a much wider audience. Read More >>

Every small business owner knows the challenge of growing their customer base - getting traffic through the doors or onto their website in order to drive an increase in sales. Many businesses rely heavily on local traffic - that is, on getting people through the doors of their establishment. With the dawning of the age of mobile internet connections via smart phones, it is becoming increasingly important that you be searchable and reachable on multiple platforms that provide location-aware services to users of smart phones. When a person is using their mobile device and searching for a bite to eat, the restaurateur  certainly wants her establishment showing up in those search results - be it on Facebook, Foursquare, Yelp or  Google Local search results to name just a few (and there are dozens!) It can't be overstated how important local search is for businesses that rely on foot traffic. Folks don't turn to the yellow pages as they did in years past and the small businesses that can leverage the power of local search results will fare much better than those that do not or cannot. So how does the owner of a local business end up getting listed in local search engines [....] Read More >>

Entanglement This is one of those games that can be very addictive. it has a timeless sense of play to it. By turning tiles you create paths and the reward for each segment of path you create is a cascade of points and a waterfall of sound and music. It's really quite pleasing and deserving of Props. Entanglement is available for the Google Chrome browser in the Chrome store. Props going out for a delightful, addictive, quality gaming experience.   GTD: Getting Things Done The book by David Allen, Getting Things Done, is a groundbreaking work-life management system ideal for information workers. It moves you toward an integrated system of stress-free productivity. Whether you are an executive, student, or run a business and/or household, GTD will teach you the tips and tricks of how to get--and stay--on top of it all. The beauty of GTD is that it is both effective and simple and is agnostic as to the tools you use to implement it. Some folks do GTD on paper while others go completely digital.  Props going out the David Allen for GTD. 99% Invisible Podcast and Radio Show You need only listen to one podcast from this show to understand why we're giving it Props. [....] Read More >>

Edgeworks Creative co-founder and Web Strategist  Ed Rooney brings a host of skills to the table including superhuman strength and x-ray vision due to his exposure to radioactive materials. But beyond his superhuman capabilities, he also has a deep understanding of the techniques and tools used to create effective websites. His passions include unlocking the mysteries of online marketing with a focus on search engine marketing, search engine optimization and social networking for businesses. Before joining forces with Cynthia Ryan to form Edgeworks Creative LLC, Ed worked with teams both large and small developing websites. He also ran his own small web design business for many years. His insights into the website development process formed the backbone of the Edgeworks CMS - the primary web development platform the team now uses. As Web Strategist, Ed's job involves getting to know the goals, audiences and business methods of our clients and transferring them to an action plan for building new business.  But it doesn't stop there. Ed has many years of experience as a web developer and hits the keyboard every day to develop web properties for our clients. Ed has taught adult education courses on many subjects related to owning a small business and [....] Read More >>